Greenhouse Gases Have Already Hit the Highest Level in Human History

Politicians and everyday citizens can debate whether global warming is real until the cows come home, but the scientific evidence is pretty overwhelming: and it doesn’t look good for us humans or our planet. Greenhouse gases have already hit the highest point in human history, despite an uptick in renewable energy and energy efficiency.

These greenhouse gases cause heat to get trapped in the atmosphere and they contribute to sea levels rising and major, catastrophic weather events like floods and hurricanes. One climate scientist at NASA explained the situation: “Combustion — the chemical reaction we use to generate most of the energy we use — gives off CO2 as a byproduct. We’ve been doing a lot of combusting since the Industrial Revolution, and all that extra CO2 has to go somewhere. Essentially, we’ve been treating the atmosphere as a dumpster for over 150 years.”

And make no mistake about it: human beings are entirely to blame for this phenomenon. Since scientists began compiling this data in 1958, there has been a 30% increase in carbon dioxide in our environment. We only get one planet. Let’s get to work on treating it the right way.